Freedom status of dourine (trypanosoma equiperdum) in Malaysia

The objective of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of dourine from imported horses using Complement Fixation Test. Dourine is classified as a OIE listed B disease (OIE Terrestrial Manual 2008) where equines are mainly susceptible to it and it had occurred in many countries such as Africa, the Middle East, South America and South-eastern Europe. Malaysia regularly imports Australian horses for the equestrian sector which encompasses activities such as racing and endurance as well as other recreational or leisure activities in Malaysia. As such, awareness towards this disease is important during importation of horses to avoid dourine embark into Malaysia. A total of 288 horse sera samples obtained from animal quarantine stations and private stables were examined for dourine by complement fixation test. Results showed serologically negative results for dourine with all the samples tested